Motor vehicle drivers in California have a “duty of care” requiring them to obey traffic laws and always watch out for other people. They owe that duty to other drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike. Unfortunately, not every driver lives up to this duty, which can cause avoidable collisions with people who were lawfully crossing the street inside of crosswalks.
As per California Vehicle Code § 21950, drivers are supposed to always yield the right-of-way to pedestrians who are crossing the road inside a marked crosswalk or at an intersection in an unmarked crosswalk. In addition, drivers should slow down whenever they approach a pedestrian in a marked or unmarked crosswalk and keep a safe distance from them until it is safe to proceed. Failing to do this could qualify as legally actionable negligence if it directly leads to a pedestrian accident.
That said, pedestrians also have a responsibility to obey pedestrian signals when applicable, watch out for oncoming traffic before entering crosswalks, and to proceed through crosswalks reasonably quickly. Any failure by a pedestrian to fulfill their own “duty of care” could lead to them being found partially at fault for an ensuing accident. They could also get denied a portion of compensation that they otherwise would have been entitled to receive, as a San Jose pedestrian crosswalk accident attorney can explain in more detail.
Assuming no issues with “comparative fault” as discussed above, a pedestrian who is struck and injured in a crosswalk by a negligent driver can demand civil compensation from that driver for both short-term and long-term effects the accident will have on them, including:
Even if you obey every rule applicable to you as a pedestrian, you may still be at risk of suffering serious injury if a motor vehicle driver around you fails to act responsibly. Fortunately, being struck by a car while inside a crosswalk generally makes for a very strong civil claim—if that is, you know how to proactively pursue a claim like this and obtain fair compensation through one.
